Filgrastim reaction!

Diagnosed with breast cancer Triple negative and inflammatory breast cancer
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Hi All,

So had quite a scary experience last night.Became very breathless,shivering then hot.No temp,oxygen dropped to 92 and heart rate was 115 even when sitting.Phoned 24 hr triage line who advised my partner to call 999 for an ambulance.No ambulance available for 8 hrs,in that time thankfully my breathing returned to normal.So today back pain and diarrhea, just feeling rubbish.The only constant is after I take the filgrastim I feel rubbish,last week had extreme stomach cramps.My question is does anyone have chemotherapy without having to take the filgrastim please.My consultant said last week I would need to lower chemotherapy to enable myself not to need filgrastim Obviously I don’t want to lower my chemotherapy, but I feel this is my only way forward xx

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@budsbails2301 I’m sorry to hear you have had such a severe reaction. Are you sure it is the Filgrastim that has caused the reaction rather than the chemotherapy regime you are on? I ask because I had a very similar reaction starting on day 4 following my first EC treatment with some differences - I had severe abdominal colic, diarrhoea x10+/day, cold/hot feeling, no temp, increased heart rate. I was admitted to hospital for 24 hours and it all settled provided I didn’t eat :flushed:. For the second treatment I didn’t eat before 12-1pm, just fluids, used Buscopan and Loperamide and it was much improved.
I am on Filgrastim daily from day 3 for 7 days so when my problems started I had had 2 doses. I was advised to take a Loratidine antihistamine just before the Filgrastim to help with joint pains etc. I haven’t had any problems.

When they were considering reducing my chemotherapy because of the tummy problems I was advised that research has shown that it can be reduced up to 20% without compromising clinical efficiency.

Sorry if this is not relevant to you :woman_shrugging:

Love to you and i hope you can resolve this.

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Hi Pat,
Thank you so much for your reply😁 sorry to hear about your experience and hope all is well with you now.Yes i take loratidine and paracetamol at least an hr before the injections. I didnt realise about the 20% and not effecting the overall outcome. Im going to speak to my BCN tomorrow as she was in the meeting with the consultant. I suppose i wont know whether it is the injection or the chemotherapy until i dont take the injection.I just know i dont ever want to feel like that again,it was really scary xx

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@budsbails2301 it is scary and it was the fear that sent me to the hospital the first time. Before the second treatment I met with the Clinical Nurse Specialist and we went through the tablets I could take, the not eating in the morning, as I seem to feel worse in the morning for some reason though I’m not a morning person anyway​:rofl:, and it definitely worked the second time!! I had my 3rd Ec treatment yesterday - that’s why I’m awake at 3am, its happened everytime, the steroids I’m told :roll_eyes:. Next I have 3 Docetaxel sessions so probably a load of new side effects to deal with :roll_eyes::roll_eyes::rofl:

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Have u tried taking 2 paracetamol 30 mins before administering the injection? That was recommended to me by my consultant x

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Hi Taralynn,
Thank you for your reply😁 yes take loratidine and paracetamol.To be honest have had issues with them since the start but ive persevered.Sunday scared me though and i dont want to take them anymore.I will need to speak with the consultant and if it means my chemotherapy is reduced then thats all i can do xx

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They are the best to discuss it with, hope you get sorted xx

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